1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recorder, and more particularly to an ink jet recorder having a droplet acceptor which is used in a recording head discharge test or discharge recovery (test discharge) or when an orifice or surrounding elements are cleaned.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An ink jet recording system has a number of advantages such as high recording speed, plain paper printing without fixing, facility for color printing and low noise.
However, since the flying droplets used for recording are formed by discharging the liquid from a fine discharge orifice, the discharge orifice is clogged by deposition of the liquid as the liquid is evaporated when the recorder is left unused for a long time, and the liquid is not well discharged. Further, paper particles may be deposited in or around the discharge orifice or gas may remain in the recording head. In such cases, the liquid is also not well discharged. In addition, the evaporation of the liquid usually leads to an increase of viscosity, which also causes improper discharge of the liquid.
In order to allow proper recording or checking whether normal recording can be performed, the liquid is discharged from the discharge orifice for test purposes. Such discharging of the liquid is done not to a record medium but to droplet acceptor which includes an absorber.
In the prior art ink jet recorder, a porous material such as sponge or a textile material such as felt is used as an absorber of the droplet acceptor for the test discharging or the like, and an operator substitutes a new absorber for a saturated absorber from time to time.
In prior art ink jet recorders, however, since the ink is always accepted at the same portion of the absorber, that portion is rapidly saturated by the ink. As the ink is dried and solidified, the absorption ability of the absorber decreases and the ink discharged during the test discharging is not fully absorbed but falls into the recorder and contaminates the recorder. As a result, the hands of the operator are also contaminated or the ink deposits on a path of the record medium or the recording head and hence the record paper is contaminated.